As Middle-Earth Hangs in the Balance...
by Caitlin of The Shire
Summary: today's Middle-Earth hangs in the balance as it once did when Frodo's desendant has adventure
1. The Stranger and the Letter

Dear Zeake,  
  
I am very much looking forward to what you call the adventure that will change my life. I don't know what you are talking about, but I know I will like it, as you say it will have danger and challenges. I cannot wait until you arrive.  
  
Your friend,  
  
Elijah  
  
  
  
Elijah was a dreamer. He always dreamt of being somewhere else, during studies, during festivities, during daily life. He wanted to see the world, see what was beyond the fields and gardens of his village. The rest of the men at his village love home, and do not travel much. If they are traveling, it is homeward bound, wherever it takes them. But Elijah was different. He wanted adventure, challenge, he wanted out of the confinement of his village. He always thought he was trapped, even though his village spread for a few miles. He wanted to explore places no one knew existed, to find what no one knew they could find. To get out of his village, and go on a quest, something that will have his call, something that will cure him of his need to see the world. He did not believe that he could be cured of his curiousness. He didn't want to be cured of it.  
  
Zeake was his old friend, who would always tell him of the adventures he had been through, one should say. He had traveled across the world, three times some say, and always lived to tell the tale. Most of his tales people thought he was lying, they couldn't be true. Elijah always believed him though. Zeake could always turn to Elijah, and Elijah would never turn him down. Zeake wasn't around very much any more. Elijah never suspected anything, until one night.  
  
That one night, Zeake sent a messenger to him and told him that he was in for the adventure of his life. Elijah, always wanting adventure, could not turn it down. It was in his blood, his soul to go on this adventure. It might be that it was his first adventure that made him feel this way. He always dreamed, no fantasized that someone or something came to him home, in the quiet village of Stretting, and asked him on a daring, brave adventure that will bring pride to Stretting. He thought he knew exactly what he would feel, but now it was different. This was not what he had expected would happen, in that fair spring day.  
  
~  
  
Elijah was going out of his quiet home to get the mail out of the ordinary mailbox a few feet away from his front door. As he stepped out of the door, he thought to himself that today was different somehow. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was different. Maybe, just maybe, he had heard the padding of silent feet on the other side of his land, or that the dew had not settled just right. But something was different. And he didn't know what.  
  
He was walking across the lawn and he heard something coming. He immediately ran back into his home, and he looked out his window. What he saw was a man, on a black steed, coming down the road. He stopped in font of his home. He looked at it a puzzled.  
  
"Elijah! Elijah! Is this the home of Elijah?" he yelled at the house. Elijah didn't know how to respond and then, and then he had the thought that maybe his dreams have come true. Maybe he had been called on an adventure.  
  
He got up and walked towards the door, not making a sound that could have been heard by the stranger. He crept slowly, he feared the stranger, his sword was not with him.  
  
"Elijah! I am a friend of Zeake! He has sent me to you! He needs you!" the stranger yelled at the home, and pondered if he was home. When Elijah heard this, he ran towards the door and pushed it open with his arm as he ran out to the stranger. Anything, any mumble, that had something to do with Zeake, he ran to it. He missed him so much; he just needed to see him again.  
  
"Zeake has sent you?" he asked the stranger as he came to him, almost out of breath. It sounded so good to him, he just wanted to make sure it was real. He thought this was a dream.  
  
"Yes, Zeake has sent me and he wants you to go with him on an adventure into deep peril. He knows you will not refuse the job," said the stranger with a slight smile. It seems that he had known Elijah's heart as well. "He wants you to right back to him immediately. The mail will take less time than sending it with me. If you were to go, nothing would be ready, he does not know the arrangements."  
  
"How do I know that I can trust you stranger?" Elijah asked him. He was always weary of strangers; he did not like the look of this one. It looks like he had evil dealings, if one was to judge. But this judgment could vary to fighting against evil, or for it. It sort of looked like he had come from a battle, and that never looks good if you are judged.  
  
"How do you know to trust me? I am Ryan the youngest son of old David Halliway himself. One would think that you could trust a Halliway, one would?" he said with a smile, not an evil smile, but not a welcoming one. The stranger then got off of his steed and walked towards Elijah. If you saw this, you would laugh. Elijah wasn't all that tall, in fact, sort of short. He was only four feet, ten inches tall, as Ryan Halliway was at least seven feet tall. In fact, I'm about to fall down on the ground and roll with laughter.  
  
Ryan handed him an envelope addressed to him in blood red ink, a trademark of Zeake's. It seemed to be written in haste rather than carefully as Zeake usually writes. This startled Elijah slightly as he looked back up to Ryan and took the envelope (keyword: up). He glared at it, not sure it was from Zeake.  
  
"Are you not going to read it?" Ryan asked the short Elijah. Elijah opened the envelope and looked at the letter, which was more carefully written. He read it to himself, but as a summary, it asked him to brave danger and go into deep peril for a very, very worthy cause. Elijah couldn't resist.  
  
He looked back up at Ryan. "Of course I'll go!" he shouted at him. This made the stranger with a queer smile. Ryan walked back over to his horse and began to mount it as Elijah ran back to his home and wrote a response. It was scribbled, but still legible.  
  
Elijah ran back outside to see that Ryan and his steed were not there. He began to look around, still not finding him. He sighed and spoke to himself, "Never trust a Halliway to stick around,"  
  
"And why not?" Ryan asked him. Elijah jumped a few feet into the air. "Come on, we have a long way to ride. I think this will be a good surprise for Zeake, instead of sending the reply with me, you can hand it to him yourself."  
  
"Don't do that!" he said and got a little mad at him for scaring him. Ok, ok, startling him. Short people can be so picky, you know?  
  
"Do you have a horse?" Ryan asked him. Elijah nodded and walked around his home to a stable where his one horse, Casey, was kept. He started to put the saddle on him when Ryan came in. He finished and mounted him. He followed Ryan out of the stable and onto the road, the road to Zeake, the road to adventure, challenge, peril. Elijah's road. 


	2. The Wood and the Enine

Disclaimer: I dun own Lord of the Rings. Nope. Not me. That's Tolkien. I didn't do it. I swear! (a lot)  
  
  
  
Elijah and Ryan had been on the road for a few hours now, and the sun was near setting point. Elijah looked up at the sun with weary eyes and a tired face. He glanced at Ryan who was in front of him and wondered where Ryan was taking him. He knew the land around here and only here. A few more miles and he will be clueless. He began to think about what danger may lie ahead, and he was ready to challenge it. He began to slump and looked down at Casey whom he could tell was as tired as him.  
  
"Ryan, why don't we go to my friend Billy's house over yonder for the night. The sun will soon set and Casey is even more tired than I," he said and gave out a yawn. Ryan did not want to camp inside of Sylvania, the colony where Setting was located. He knew he was watched there, and he knew he had better get out of it, which was the reason that he brought Elijah with him.  
  
"No, not yet. We must get out of Sylvania first."  
  
"But I do not know anyone outside of Sylvania. I don't know if there are any Inns or Taverns there. Where shall we stay then?"  
  
"The Wood of course."  
  
"The Wood? Why the Wood? Do you know what lives in that Wood?"  
  
"Do you?"  
  
"No. That's why I'm asking you."  
  
Ryan laughed. He looked back to Elijah. "Your worse nightmares live there." Elijah trembled. His worse nightmares were not very pretty. He was hoping he was exaggerating. He must be, he thought, he hoped.  
  
~  
  
It was sunset, and Elijah and Ryan were deep in the Wood, how deep, Elijah didn't know. It was beginning to get harder and harder to see each other, sometimes because they couldn't keep their eyes open. At least Elijah couldn't. Ryan, on the other side, was used to this, and could see almost perfectly in the dark. He saw that Elijah didn't have his eyes open and wasn't guiding Casey.  
  
Ryan got off of his steed and took hold of Casey's reigns. His sudden stop awoke Elijah. He looked around and wondered where he was for a moment. At that time, it was almost pitch black, and he couldn't see. He started to tremble, and then he remembered where he was.  
  
"Ryan?" he called out. There was a movement to his right side. Elijah got off of Casey and stepped down on the other side. Then there was a movement behind the horse, coming towards him. He ran to the other side of the horse, shaking in fear.  
  
All of a sudden, there was a hand lain on his shoulder. He jumped and looked back, and he saw, or thought he saw, the faint outline of Ryan. He stepped backwards and stumbled on a loose root or something other. He fell on the ground, and crawled backward on it, away from the advancing figure.  
  
"Ryan?" he called out once more. By this time, it was pitch black, no moon, no nothing. He felt behind him and felt Casey's side, and he leaned on the horse to stand up.  
  
"Ryan!" he called out with more enthusiasm, he was afraid of the more advancing figure, which now he saw was not Ryan. He ran to the other side of the horse, and drew out his sword, which was always attached to Casey's saddlebag.  
  
Another hand was put on his back, and when he turned again, he saw Ryan there holding a crude torch made of just a piece of fabric and a long branch. "What is it?" he asked.  
  
"There's something over-" there was nothing where he had saw the figure, the torchlight illuminated it. He was pointing to the far right, but all that was there were trees.  
  
"That would be your imagination."  
  
"No, no. Something was there, I swear."  
  
"It must have been an Enine."  
  
"What is an Enine?" he asked and started to fear the trees that surrounded them.  
  
"Come help me set up camp and I will tell you," he said and walked over to a clearing, Elijah following the light of his torch. The clearing was a pretty good size, big enough for a couple more tents that are needed.  
  
Elijah nodded and helped him take the equipment out of the packs on Ryan's horse. "What is your horse's name?"  
  
"Old reliable," he said with a smile. He took out a one-person tent and handed it to Elijah. "You know how to set up a tent, right?"  
  
Elijah nodded. To tell you the truth, he had no clue. He took it out and began to play with it, realizing that it was harder than it looked. After about twenty minutes, he figures out where everything went. He looked up to see Ryan watching him with amusement. He also saw that Ryan's tent was already up and ready.  
  
Elijah got a little frustrated. Understatement of the year. He stood up and walked over to Ryan and demanded Ryan to tell him how to put it together. This made Ryan laugh. He waked over to the tent, and turned it upside down.  
  
"Ever wonder why you couldn't find the tabs?" he said with another laugh. Elijah went red with embarrassment, either that or anger. Who knows? He went back to the tent and started to put it together, right this time. He finished it in a few seconds, with Ryan's help. Then he thought he saw something.  
  
"What's that?" he asked Ryan, pointing to the North.  
  
"It's just an Enine."  
  
"What's an Enine?"  
  
"I'll tell you as soon as we light a fire," he said. He went into the Wood and started to find dead wood for a fire. He also took the torch with him, and there was no chance whatsoever of Elijah doing anything, it was worse than pitch black, and he couldn't see his hands waving in front of his face.  
  
He stumbled around, trying to find the tent. He had no clue, and you could tell. He felt something, and it moved. He jumped back afraid of what he had touched until he heard a whinny of a horse.  
  
"Casey," he said with a sigh. "You scared me. Come here," he said as he led him into the clearing. Ryan was already back, and if you could see, he was making a fire circle with rocks and piling up firewood on the ground. He felt around for the tent and finally found it.  
  
Ryan lit the fire with the torch, and soon the whole clearing was illuminated. He sat down on the ground, and Elijah went and sat beside him. Elijah coughed loudly to signal that he wanted to remind Ryan of something. Ryan was confused until he remembered his promise.  
  
"An Enine is a figure that has evolved from an Orc when they were bred with men during the War of the Ring. They got taller and stronger. Someone had the bright idea of breeding them with Elves, who were completely unwilling, but they were captured and...well…you know. There, they got magic. They have some good in them, form the Elves, but it is almost impossible to bring it out of them. But since Frodo Baggins was a Hobbit, they tried to wipe out the Hobbits from existence. And they succeeded, there is no Hobbit left in the known world, but there is a rumor that they hid in this Wood and have been living here every since."  
  
"Creepy," he said as he starts to look around. He was part Hobbit, on his mother's side, which is the reason he was so short. He had heard that the family that his ancestor was from was Baggins. He looks around in the woods, half expecting to see a guy a little shorter than he walk out from behind a tree. 


	3. Its up to Elijah

Disclaimer: do I look like Tolkien to you?????  
  
BTW, sorry for not posting a chapter for FOREVER. I lost my password and I'm gonna put more chapters in my other story too.  
  
*  
  
Elijah and Ryan began to climb into their tents, when Elijah's stomach rumbled. Ryan laughed, but Elijah didn't notice. The best part about being part Hobbit: all the food! Elijah ignored his stomach too, and climbed into his tent.  
  
~  
  
The next morning, when it was light, Elijah walked out of his tent and looked around the Wood, maybe for a Hobbit, hopefully not a Enine. He saw Ryan sitting by the fire, and sat down beside him.  
  
"Breakfast? Second breakfast? How about Eleventies?" Ryan asked Elijah and laughed. Elijah scowled and asked where they were going. Ryan only said to Zeake. Elijah began to feel scared because he did not know the lay of the land from there and beyond. Elijah tried to get out of Ryan what adventure Zeake had planned, but he couldn't.  
  
~  
  
Later that day, Elijah and Ryan rode on and on; Elijah had no clue where they were going. Casey was getting tired again, but not as bad as the day before. Elijah was looking down at Casey, but his head had turned when they came upon a great city. It was filled with buildings of all shapes and sizes, people of all different races, even one creature that Elijah could have sworn was an Urak-Hai; and the most of them were doing business. All Elijah knew was that they were not in Sylvania anymore.  
  
Elijah complained to Ryan again that his horse was tired, but he ignored it and said that it was only a few more miles to Zeake. Elijah drove Casey harder, and asked which direction. Ryan laughed and pointed to a house inside of the city, and said it was Zeake's.  
  
Elijah was overly joyed and ran to the house, bursting to get inside. He opened the door to see the familiar smile that was always spread across Zeake's face. Ryan entered, and that joy that Elijah felt seeing Zeake made a smile spread across his lips.  
  
~  
  
Zeake began to explain to Elijah what he was talking about with the adventure. "I tell you Elijah," he began. "That this is the most important adventure since the War of the Ring. I swear to you, if you succeed, you will be the most famous part Hobbit in all that is left of Middle-Earth. If you don't, well, lets not talk about that…Anyway, this quest you are about to embark on will start here, in our own little corner of The Shire…"  
  
"The Shire?" Elijah interrupted. "We are in The Shire? I haven't visited this place since I was only a wee child, I should have recognized it."  
  
Zeake smiled and continued, "You see Elijah, the Elves started to forge new Rings. New, more powerful rings. One for Aman, the heir of Galadriel, one for Arwen the V, and one for, well, we are not sure. It says in a new prophecy, that it is fore Elijah, heir of Frodo Baggins, destroyer of the One Ring. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, you now own Bag End, but that is a different story. It also says that a dark force shall have the ring. You must find this ring, Elijah. If the dark force, whatever this shall be, get to it, it mentions that all if lost. Middle-Earth is in your hands."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Ok, its short. I'm sick, what do you expect? J/k 


End file.
